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TROPICAL PUNCH
A taste of the
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Warm colors can
^ do wonders for
^ home interior
Volume 29 No. 16
www.thecharlottepost.com
$1.00
Wat Cliaitlott0
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The Voice of the Black Community
Also serving Cau.^
WEEK OP DECEMBER 31, 2003-JANUARY 7, 2004
NEWSMAKER OF THE YEAR
PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BOBCATS
Charlotte Bobcats owner Bob Johnson made history in 2003 as the first person of color to own controlling interest in a major
league sports franchise. Now he is going about the task of luring customers to see his NBA franchise and developing uptown as
the entertainment epicenter of Charlotte.
By C. Jemal Horton
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
It is a relatively slow day in
Edwards’ Barber Styling III on
The Plaza, when the subject of
Charlotte’s new NBA team and
its owner, Bob Johnson, hits
the floor.
Now, it is important to
remember that no one is
sacred in black-owned barber
shops, which often double as
black sports talk radio. Here,
they take the gloves off when it
comes to sports topics. Here,
black sports figures get ripped
just as much as, if not more
than, white sports figures.
On this day, someone offers
up this description of Bob
Johnson:
“He’s a savior,” patron Tyrone
Davis said softly as he leaned
back in an unused barber’s
chair.
“Bob Johnson saved this city.
He’s getting ready to bring the
life back to this city. He’s bringr
ing jobs to this city. That
means a whole lot.”
Johnson disagrees with the
notion he is a savior. But his
impact in returning profession
al basketball to the Queen City
Johnson’s decision of Bobcats
and color scheme were firsts in
— and creating opportunities
for those who need them — is
why Johnson is The Post’s
Newsmaker of the Year.
Johnson purchased the
Charlotte Bobcats for $300
million and energized a city
where sports fans felt betrayed
when George Shinn and Ray
Wooldridge ran off to New
Orleans with its first big-
league franchise, the Hornets.
PHOTO/OALVIN FERGUSON
for the NBA team’s nickname
U.S. professional sports.
Sure, it almost was
inevitable that the city would
feel a debt of gratitude toward
the person who owned the next
Charlotte NBA franchise. But
a great many people in this
city felt something extra when
it was learned the next owner
would be a black man.
“Oh, he’s definitely a hero,”
said barber Wayne Harris, as
he trimmed Lamar Hill’s hair
in the last chair on the left.
“He’s going to show a lot of
other yoimg black men that
they can accomplish goals
right here in Charlotte. It defi
nitely means more because
he’s black. I wouldn’t feel the
same way if Larry Bird had
gotten the franchise. Bob
Johnson is someone people in
this neighborhood can identify
with.”
‘A community compact’
Johnson, founder of Black
Entertainment Television,
cringes when he learns he is
considered a savior. He said he
instead considers the City of
Charlotte its own savior. He
points to how Charlotte and its
business and community lead
ers were proactive in letting
NBA commissioner David
Stem know that fans here
wanted another franchise. A
savior? No way. The billionaire
cannot embrace that.
“I don’t see it that way,”
Johnson said, shaking his
head in the Bobcats’ offices at
the corner of Trade and
Church streets. “I call it a com
munity compact between the
city, the fans and the team. Tb
Please see BOBCATS/2A
Protesting Somalis face indefinite incarceration
By Lloyd Nicholas
INSIGHT NEWS GROUP
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -
Some 20 persons of Somali ori
gin who were detained by the
Department of Homeland
Security over the last few
years remain incarcerated for
an indefinite period says Omar
Jamal, executive director,
Somali Justice Advocacy
Center.
‘We spoke to Homeland
Security on Monday, Dec. 15,
and the situation looks grim.
The authorities said the
detainees will not be released,
but if they request to be
returned to Somalia, some
arrangement could be worked
out,” reported Jamal in an
interview.
The Somali Justice Advocacy
Center here had expressed
concern about the conditions of
the Somali immigrant
detainees, some of whom were
transferred to Oak Park
Heights prison' in Stillwater,
Minn., after a protest riot
broke out at the Rush City
Detention Center in
November.
The detainees had refused to
return to their cells and
demanded a resolution of their
immigration status after a pro
tracted period of incarceration.
The Somali Human Rights
Association, in investigating
the prison disturbance,
warned that some of the the 20
refugees detained, “have been
in legal fimbo for years now,
lingering in indefinite deten
tion.”
The problem, explained
Jamal, “is the reality that
Somalia does not exist as a
country and is under the con
trol of armed elements who are
likely to place the lives of
returning refugees at risk and
under U.S. law, refugees can
not be returned to a place that
is not recognized as a countiy.
And since these groups of
detainees are not allowed legal
Please see SQMALIS/6A
Bush
Wholiiay
toboost
afldnlable
bousbigP
With fewer U.S. funds,
alternatives are a must
By Herbert L. White
herh.white@lhecharloiieposl.com
Charlotte needs more affordable housing, but
revenue is scarce and will likely remain that way.
So what’s a city to do?
City Council is -wrestling -with
the possibility of taking a more
active role in pro-viding homes.
With the federi. HOPE VI pro
gram reducing funding nationally
from $545 million in 2003 to $105
milhon in 2004, local options are
limited.
“Anybody who thinks sour share
of federal dollars -will get better is
in for a rude awakening,” City
Council member James MitcheU
says. “If we’re going to continue to
hit our goals, we’ve got to be more
creative in where we get those dol
lars.”
Charlotte’s in a difficult situa
tion, says Lucy Bush, a Charlotte
Housing Authority commissioner.
Without federal money, city lead
ers -will have to look long and hard
to locate and leverage alternative
funds. An estimated 7,000 families need housing.
“I don’t think the whole thing falls to City
Council by default, but a lot of it wQl,’? she said.
Please see CHARLOTTE/6A
Dad’s decision
spared son from
fatal car wreck
By Paul Nowell
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TROUTMAN - Eugene Arnold refused to let his
14-year-old son go joyriding with
friends last weekend, a “fatherly
instinct” that may have spared
the teen from a horrific crash that
killed seven of his peers following
a pohce chase.
To be sure the message got
across, Arnold brought his son,
Nellow Brown, to the scene of the
crash Monday.
“I wanted to let him see first
hand the loss of five, six or seven
of your best friends,” Arnold said.
The Highway Patrol identified
the teenagers as driver John
Lindsey Myers, 15, and passen
gers Da-vid Wayne Summers, 14,
Quentin Maurice Reed, 18,
Antonio Miller, 13, Domnick
Hurtt, 17, Erica Stevenson, 15,
and Antoinette Griffin, 13. ’
Arnold said he refused his son’s
pleas to join companions on Sunday night. “I told
him he was too young,” Arnold said. “Call it
fatherly instinct.”
Arnold is among those in this rural North
Carolina town who believe too much speed and
too little dri-ving experience caused the deadly
Please see FATHER’S/3A
Mitchell
Griffin
Inside
Editorials 4A
Weather 8A
Life IB
Religion 8B
Sports 1C
Real Estate 5C
Business 8C
A&E ID
Classified 4D
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© 2003 The Chariotte Post Publishing Co.
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